Draw-Down cultivation-A tool for sustainable farm income and management of risk in agriculture in Karnaaka

Draw Down Cultivation (DDC) is a unique cultivation practice where the short duration crops are cultivated on the edges of the reservoirs during the summer months, when the water in the reservoir recedes exposing the submerged area for a period of two to five months. DDC is one such gross root level knowledge which is used as a risk management tool by the rehabilitated farmers who have lost their cultivable land as a result of construction of Almatti dam (UKP) in Bagalkot district of Karnataka. The present paper attempted to analyse the economics of area taken up by rehabilitated farmers under draw down cultivation in Bagalkot and Vijayapur district of Karnataka. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. The primary data was collected from 120 farmers with the aid of well designed, pre-tested and comprehensive schedule exclusively prepared for the study. Secondary data was collected from Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam (KBJNL) Ltd. The results of the study revealed that, the area under groundnut crop was higher than other crops. Among the selected four major crops viz., groundnut, cowpea, onion and Bengal gram, the highest net returns was obtained in onion cultivation by DDF and NDDF both in Vijayapur and Bagalkot district followed by groundnut. With proper planning multiple crops can be taken in single draw down period. Drawdown cultivation is a traditional knowledge and a unique perspective of increasing farmers’ income which can be used to its advantage in similar situation across the country.